During the late 1980s, The Eagle-Tribune ran nearly 200 articles on Michael Dukakis and the Massachusetts prison furlough program, with a special focus on Willie Horton.

The newspaper's sports editor, Russ Conway, who led the investigation, was a nominated finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize in Beat Reporting for his work and earned the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award in 1999.

[4][5] The newspaper’s staff was also a nominated finalist for a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Reporting in 1996, for coverage of the Malden Mills fire and its impact on the community.

Former Lawrence Mayor John J. Buckley, in 1990, lauded The Eagle-Tribune for helping the city bounce back from the closure of several mills in the 1950s.

He said the paper championed economic redevelopment in its editorials and news articles, and persuaded companies such as Avco, Honeywell and Raytheon to open plants in Lawrence.

As part of The Eagle-Tribune's push into the suburbs—a move which has left some bitterness in the city[2] – the paper has acquired several weekly newspapers within and bordering its coverage area.

The former owners of the Eagle-Tribune created Cambridge Acquisitions, Inc. during the fall of 1994 to hold the minority stake, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Corporations Division.